Qassem says Hezbollah will turn battlefield into 'hell' for Israel
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said Tuesday that his group will not stop fighting and will turn the battlefield into "hell" for Israel.
"We will keep fighting, we will respond to all violations, and we will not return to how things were before March 2," Qassem said.
Before March 2, Israel kept striking Lebanon and occupied 5 hills in the south despite a ceasefire reached in November 2024, while Hezbollah abided to the ceasefire and ceased attacks.
A new ceasefire was reached on April 17. Hezbollah this time said it will respond to Israeli violations. Israeli troops are now occupying a "yellow zone", that runs 10 kilometers inside south Lebanon, and Israel has intensified its attacks on the south and east.
Israel and Lebanon will hold a third round of direct talks in Washington this week.
Qassem called for indirect negotiations, adding that negotiations are the responsibility of the state. He said his group would cooperate with the state to end the war and the occupation, through indirect negotiations, but added that Hezbollah's weapons remain a domestic matter and should not be part of negotiations with Israel.
"Nobody outside Lebanon has anything to do with the weapons, the resistance... this is an internal Lebanese matter and not part of negotiations with the enemy," Qassem said.
"We will not surrender and we will continue to defend Lebanon and its people, however long it takes and however great the sacrifices... we will not abandon the battlefield and we will turn it into hell for Israel," he added in the statement, which was addressed to the group's fighters and broadcast on its al-Manar television channel, as fighting continues in Lebanon despite a ceasefire.
Source: Naharnet
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